Ryan O'Reilly was presumed to be on the trading block, with stalled negotiations between the Avalanche and the restricted free agent's Toronto-based advisers. O'Reilly's father, in fact, said the relationship between his son and the Avs was ruined, and a trade was inevitable.

But thanks to the Calgary Flames, the Avs' opponent Thursday at the Pepsi Center, O'Reilly will remain in Colorado.

Hours after the Flames signed the holdout to a rare offer sheet for $10 million (prorated) over two years, the Avs matched it, agreeing to pay him what they previously wouldn't.

O'Reilly is scheduled to return to Denver soon to report for a physical and could join the team for its next game, Sunday at Columbus, which begins a three-game road trip.

"This was a goal of ours from the onset to get Ryan signed and that goal was completed today," Avs general manger Greg Sherman said Thursday night. "Sometimes the process takes a little longer than you would expect, or you would want."

Sherman said teams called to inquire about a trade for O'Reilly, but their intention was to sign him.

Sherman seemed irate when talking about the Flames' offer, which included forfeiting a first- and third-round draft pick to the Avs if Colorado didn't match. Attempting to poach a restricted free agent from another team is legal under the collective bargaining agreement, but considered unethical.

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"Hey, look, it's their right within the CBA if that's the way they want to do their business," Sherman said. "The fact that we received the offer today, the day of the game against them, again, that's their prerogative, that's their business. Calgary made a decision to use rights that they had to put forth an offer sheet.

"We also have our rights within the CBA to match that. Ultimately that's the business we're in. In terms of how you want to characterize it, I'll leave that to you. But we're happy to have him under contract."

O'Reilly led the Avs in scoring (55 points) and the NHL in takeaways (101) last season, the final year of his three-year, entry-level contract that paid him $900,000. His new deal will pay him a prorated $1 million salary this season, with a $2.5 million signing bonus, and $6.5 million next season.

In a statement, the Flames said: "We believe Ryan O'Reilly is a franchise player. While we attempted to acquire him via trade, we felt the asking price was too steep and would negatively impact our future. As such, we decided to tender an offer sheer and were very pleased to have the player accept our offer. We attempted to structure the offer so as to enhance our chances of getting the player."

The Avs had seven days to match the offer, but they did it quickly Thursday.

"Given the time frame that we moved on this, I think it's pretty clear what our objective was," Sherman said. "With meeting (with) Josh and Stan (Kroenke) we moved very quickly."

After the announcement, O'Reilly took to Twitter, tweeting: "Very excited to join back up with the boys. Can't wait to get on the ice and play in front of the great avalanche fans again." That was followed by: "Sorry to everyone about the situation. I'm very glad to say that it is over and I now can focus on what I love to do."

O'Reilly's $6.5 million salary for next season is important, because that is the minimum qualifying offer the Avs have to make to retain his services going forward as a restricted free agent. His agent, Mark Guy, previously said they were seeking more than $5 million annually on a long-term deal that carried the 22-year-old O'Reilly into his eligible unrestricted free agency, which for him would be age 25. Thanks to the Flames, he'll get his $5 million much earlier, and become Colorado's second-highest paid player behind Paul Stastny ($6.6 million).

Since the Avs chose to match the offer, they are prohibited from trading O'Reilly for one calendar year.

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